In recent times, wiring harnesses have become very complex, necessitating the need to automate the wiring process.
It has been suggested that one of the ways to streamline the fabrication of harnesses, is to construct a universal harness board which is capable of changing its pin arrangement to accommodate different wiring patterns.
Such a universal wiring harness is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,373.
This type of universal harness board can be wired by robot controls, and is useful in the fabrication of
Despite the many advantages of this harness board design, certain disadvantages remain which make this board impractical for aircraft wiring.
In the first instance, the board requires mounting on a frame for rotation. The rotation of the harness board is necessary, because the pins can only be extended in the reverse board position.
In the aircraft industry where harnesses can grow to eighteen feet in length, reversal of an eighteen foot harness board would be extremely cumbersome, and would require a massive cradle or frame to support and turn the board. Verification of pin extension would also be difficult.
The pins of the harness board of the aforementioned patent are only lockable en masse.
If the locking mechanism should jam or become disabled, the whole wiring board must be dismantled.
With the system of this invention each pin has its own individual locking mechanism. Should one of the pins become jammed or disabled, it is easily replaced from the front of the board, and the board can be quickly brought back on the production line.
Another difficulty with this particular locking mechanism shown in the patented device is the complexity of constructing the inner-workings of the box frame structure.
The present invention has designed a harness board which eliminates the aforementioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the previous system.
The harness board of the present invention is much easier to fabricate, owing to the fact that the box-like frame is essentially of one-piece construction, and hasn't any internal working parts.